Hotel Room Keys Have
Your Personal Information on Them Including Credit Card Numbers-Fiction!

Summary of the eRumorA warning that key cards
issued to hotel or motel guests as room keys are being used for identity
theft.
The story says that Southern California Law Enforcement
professionals discovered that some hotel room keys include the
guest's name, credit card information, and other data that could be
used for identity theft.

The TruthHotels and resorts are
increasingly issuing credit card-looking "key cards" to
guests instead of traditional metal keys for use in opening the
doors to guest rooms. That's increased security for guests since metal keys could be
easily duplicated and most of them had the number of the room
stamped on them making it easy for a stolen or lost key to be used
for entry. The key cards do not have any visible indication of what room they
open. They also have a magnetic strip on the back that can be programmed,
for example, with the dates that the guest is going to use the room
so that the key cannot be used after that unless it is programmed
with fresh information.

Do hotel key cards have guests' personal information on them? We surveyed several major hotels in California, Nevada, and Florida
and the consensus was emphatic: No hotel key cards have any
personal information on them, not even the guest's name. There are some hotels, such as the Hard Rock and Portofino Hotels in
Orlando, Florida, that have allow key cards to be used for
purchases, but there is no identifying information on the key
card. The purchases are billed to the room number and added to the guests
hotel charges.

One fraud detective we talked with said the eRumor may have been
prompted by a police case from Southern California where
investigators broke up a group of foreign credit card crooks. They had a large number of stolen key cards from a particular hotel.
The police decided to scan them to see what was on them and they
found credit card debit card numbers, not hotel room information.
The reason, according to the detective, is that the crooks can use a
credit card scanning device to steal credit and debit card information, program
it on to a hotel key card and use it just like the original card.
He said that there was a case in Fresno where a member of a foreign
credit card fraud gang was an employee at a gas station.
He had made a device that would scan customers' credit and debit
card info on to a hotel key card at the same time that the card was
being used for a purchase.

A few months after the eRumor started circulating in 2003, we began
getting inquiries about information said to have come from the
Pasadena, California police department about the risk of key cards. The Pasadena police department issued a press release saying that
there had been concerns expressed by a detective and his comments
got circulated by various individuals before the issue was
completely investigated. The release confirms that Pasadena
detectives contacted several large hotels and computer companies
using key card technology who confirmed that the key cards are not
programmed with personal information and does not have credit card
numbers on them.

Last updated 2/28/07

A real example of the eRumor as it has
appeared on the Internet:

Version #1

Subject: ID THEFT ATTACHMENT

Although room keys differ from hotel to hotel, a key
obtained from the
"Double Tree" chain that was being used for a regional
Identity Theft
Presentation was found to contain the following the information:

When you turn them in to the front desk your personal
information is
there
for any employee to access by simply scanning the card in the hotel
scanner.
An employee can take a hand full of cards home and using a scanning
device,
access the information onto a laptop computer and go shopping at your
expense.

Simply put, hotels do not erase these cards until an
employee issues
the
card to the next hotel guest. It is usually kept in a drawer at the
front
desk with YOUR INFORMATION ON IT!!!!

The bottom line is, keep the cards or destroy them!
NEVER leave them
behind
and NEVER turn them in to the front desk when you check out of a room.
They
will not charge you for the card.

Version #2

You know how when you check out of a hotel that uses
the credit-card-type room key, the clerk often will ask if you have your
key(s) to turn in...or there is a box or slot on the Reception counter
in which to put them? It's good for the hotel because they save money by
re-using those cards. But, it's not good for you, as revealed below.

From the CaliforniaBureau of Investigation:

"Southern Californialaw enforcement professionals
assigned to detect new threats to personal security issues, recently
discovered what type of information is embedded in the credit card type
hotel room keys used throughout the industry.

Although room keys differ from hotel to hotel, a key
obtained from a well known hotel chain that was being used for a
regional Identity Theft Presentation was found to contain the following
the information:

When you turn them in to the front desk your personal
information is there for any employee to access by simply scanning the
card in the hotel scanner

An employee can take a hand full of cards home and
using a scanning device, access the information onto a laptop computer
and go shopping at your expense.

Simply put, hotels do not erase the information on
these cards until an employee re-issues the card to the next hotel
guest. At that time, the new guest's information is electronically
"overwritten" on the card
and the previous guest's information is erased in the overwriting
process. But until the card is rewritten for the next guest, it usually
is kept in a drawer at the front desk with YOUR INFORMATION ON IT!!!!

The bottom line is: Keep the cards, take them home
with you, or destroy them. NEVER leave them behind in the room or room
wastebasket, and NEVER turn them in to the front desk when you check out
of a room. They will not charge you for the card (it's illegal) and
you'll be sure you are not leaving a
lot of valuable personal information on it that could be easily lifted
off with any simple scanning device card reader.

For the same reason, if you arrive at the airport and
discover you still have the card key in your pocket, do not toss it in
an airport trash basket. Take it home and destroy it by cutting it up,
especially through the electronic information strip!

Information courtesy of:
Pasadena Police Department
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